TORONTO - The Wheatfield Souldiers edged the Jokers 2-1 this past Saturday evening at Upper Canada College to punch their ticket to the UUHA Championship Final for the second consecutive year. An hour later, the Humiliation posted a similarly close 2-1 Semifinal win over the Parkdale Hockey Lads, earning their first trip to the Final since 2014. The Lads and Jokers will face off against one another in the Bronze Medal Game scheduled for 8:00 pm on Saturday, April 7. That match will be preceded by the 7:00 pm Consolation Final featuring the Gas Station Islanders and Parkdale Porcupines. The puck drops on the 2018 UUHA Championship Final at 9:00 pm that evening.

Also this past Saturday, the Beau's Beer Hack doubled up on the Brockton Rockets to claim a 6-3 victory in the Battle of D'Basement.

Rodney Merchant opened the scoring late in the 1st period of the 7:00 pm Semifinal, deflecting a shot from Souldiers linemate Chuck Molgat between the pads of Jokers goaltender Burke Lawrence. Winger Jon Weier was credited with an assist on the play after deftly reading a Jokers' clearing attempt to get the puck back on-side just along the boards. The Souldiers' slim lead would be short-lived, though, as Jokers defenceman Charlie Rishor combined with Steve Levine and Gary Rideout Jr. to tie things up just a minute-and-a-half later, turning some sustained net-front pressure into a high-slot opportunity that found it's way up and over goalie Sheldon Shurland's shoulder.

The 2nd period saw no scoring and finished with shots even at a dozen a piece. But midway through the 3rd, Souldiers centerman Mike Harkness would spring winger Kelly McCaig through the neutral zone, opening a clear lane for a seeing-eye blast from Keven Magura that found high twine behind Lawrence to put Burton's Boys up 2-1. Despite a late flouring that saw the Jokers with an empty-net, 6-on-4 man advantage for the final minute-and-a-half, Shurland and the Souldiers would hold on to register their fourth consecutive victory over the Jokers this season and, in the process, claim a coveted berth in the Final.

It took less than 2 minutes for deja vu to set in on the Parkdale Hockey Lads bench, as the President's Cup-winning squad looked on as veteran Humiliation forward Stephen Cribbin light the lamp behind goaltender Luis Freitas to give his side the 1-0 lead in the 8:00 pm Semifinal. Cribbin, who had been sidelined most of the Regular Season nursing injury, had scored the game-winning goal when the two longtime rivals last met two weeks earlier at Maple Leaf Gardens. Cribbin would also be in on the Humiliation's second goal on this night, assisting (along with Luke Scheer) on captain Mike Thompson's tally exactly five minutes later. (Thompson earned a helper on the opening goal, too.) But the Lads had some lamp-lighting of their own planned, as Ian Seeton combined with team veterans Nick Hehn and Tommy Gough to solve goalie Luke Smit and thwart any inkling of a runaway game for the Humiliation. But despite outshooting the Orange Tide by a margin of 13-7 over the course of the 2nd and 3rd frames, that would be it for goal scoring as the Humiliation ground out a second consecutive 2-1 victory over the Lads to ascend to the UUHA Championship Final for the first time in four seasons.

The Souldiers and Humiliation have met in the Final on two previous occasions, both of which were decided in favour of the former: In 2014 the Souldiers defeated the Humiliation 5-0 to claim their third UUHA Championship title. The score was less lopsided two years earlier when the Souldiers claimed their 2nd Championship title with a 2-0 win over the Humiliation. This will be the fourth appearance in the UUHA Final for the Humiliation (they were defeated by the Jokers in 2013) and the sixth for the Wheatfield Souldiers whose only loss in the Final was also to the Jokers (in 2011).

The two Finalists split their two-game season series against one another this past Regular Season, with the Souldiers taking the first game by a score of 4-3, and the Humiliation winning the second match 3-1.

Coincidentally, the last time the Souldiers and Humiliation met in the Final, the Bronze Medal Game featured the Jokers and Lads, just as it will this year. The result? The Lads bettered the Jokers by a score of 6-3. Also that year, the Consolation Final featured the Parkdale Porcupines (as it does again this year), however, their opponent was the Brockton Rockets, not the Gas Station Islanders, as is the case this time around.